Luck of the Draw

December 5, 2022
Originally published in 2001, this finely wrought memoir captures the fortitude and resilience of the “greatest generation.” Atlanta native Murphy, who died in 2007, volunteered for the armed forces after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As a navigator with the VIII Bomber Command, better known as the Mighty Eighth, Murphy flew daylight missions over Germany before U.S. fighter escorts could travel such distances; losses were so great that “a crew member’s chance of completing his combat tour was statistically zero,” Murphy writes. Murphy’s own luck ran out in October 1943, when his plane was shot down near Münster. Held prisoner at Stalag Luft III in Poland, Murphy viscerally describes “the uncertainty inherent in waking up each morning, day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out, in an enemy prison camp, never knowing when it would end,” and recounts the March 1944 escape of 76 airmen (later dramatized in the film The Great Escape) and its aftermath. Students of military history will appreciate Murphy’s detailed accounts of the Army Air Corp’s training program and a B-17 navigator’s responsibilities, while more casual readers will savor Murphy’s heartfelt tributes to comrades in arms. The result is a winning WWII story.

January 13, 2023

Originally published in 2001, this memoir from a former navigator with the 100th Bombardment Group is a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought in World War II. Frank Murphy, who died in 2007, flew with the VIII Bomber Command to run highly dangerous bombing runs over Germany. By the end of the war, the group had lost 4,300 bombers and 17,650 men. In addition, nearly 21,000 men were taken prisoner or interned in a neutral country. Murphy was taken prisoner after his plane was shot down near M�nster in October 1943. He was held prisoner at Stalag Luft III in Poland, the scene of a March 1944 escape dramatized in the film The Great Escape. This reissue includes hefty contributions from his daughter, Elizabeth, and granddaughter, CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas, and it presents a personal account of an airman's life and the daily struggles in a prisoner camp. Murphy will be featured in the forthcoming Apple+ series Masters of the Air, based on Donald Miller's book of the same name. VERDICT This reissue will appeal to readers of World War II history and the Apple+ series will make this story relevant again.--John Rodzvilla

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